POOJA SHARMA Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner passed her 10+2 examination from Minerva Senior Secondary School, Ghumarwin, Distt. Bilaspur and scored 407 marks out of 500 marks. The petitioner was informed vide communication dated 18.1.2012 that she was eligible for scholarship for higher education under the scheme launched by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India under the Ministry of Science and Technology, New Delhi called "INSPIRE" valued at Rs. 80,000/ - per year. The petitioner also received communication from the office of respondent No. 2 dated 10.7.2012 informing her to complete all the codal formalities and to submit the documents by 31.7.2012. The petitioner sought admission in B.Sc. (Non -medical) on 18.7.2012. The petitioner also submitted the joining report as per Annexure R -2/2. All the documents were submitted to respondent No. 2 on 30.7.2012. Since the case of the petitioner was not processed, her father sought information under the Right to Information Act, vide Annexure P -5. Respondent No. 2 sent the communication to the father of the petitioner vide Annexure P -6, informing him that the form was rejected due to late admission in the College after passing the 10+2 examination already in March, 2011. The petitioner's father was informed vide communication dated 10.6.2014, Annexure P -9 by Head "INSPIRE" & FIST Division that according to the notification published in the year 2012, the provision was made for students of the 2011 batch to apply for the scholarship, if a student has passed 10+2 examination in the year 2011 and enrolled in B.Sc./Int. M.Sc./Int. MS in the year 2012, he was eligible to apply for the "INSPIRE" scholarship, provided he satisfied other eligibility criteria prescribed in the notification. It was also clarified that the "INSPIRE" scholarship for higher education was offered only to those students who were pursuing basic and natural science courses at the B.Sc./Int. enrolment I to B.Sc./Int. M.Sc./Int. M.S. Course. The petitioner's father was also informed vide Annexure P -12 dated 24.9.2014 by respondent No. 1 that a student who has passed the 10+2 examination in the year 2011, 2012 and 2013, could not apply for the scholarship in the year 2014 and a student who has already been selected for "INSPIRE" scholarship but has failed to complete the documentation process within the specified time frame, his/her offer of scholarship would be withdrawn.

(2.) THE Ministry of Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology has issued advertisement on 15.6.2012 for submission of application for the "Scholarship for Higher Education (SHE)", a component of "INSPIRE" vide Annexure P -10. According to the advertisement, the applications were invited from eligible candidates for scholarship for higher education, a component of "INSPIRE". Total of 10,000 scholarships were available annually under SHE. The scholarships were limited only to candidates studying courses in natural/basic sciences at B.Sc. B.Sc. (Hons), Int. M.Sc./MS programmes in any one of the recognized institutions in India. The duration of the support was for maximum period of 5 years starting from 1st year course in B.Sc. B.Sc. (Hons) and integrated course leading to M.S. or M.Sc., or till completion of the course. The selection of candidates was based on performance in Board Examinations within the cut -off threshold (of top 1%) for each State or Central Board of Examination at class 10+2 level as listed in Table 1.

(3.) WE have gone through the guidelines Annexure R -2/1. These guidelines have been issued by the Department of Higher Education for the Scheme called "Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students". The eligibility criteria is laid down in para 5, reservation criteria in para 5.1 and selection procedure in para 6. Mr. Diwakar Dev Sharma, Advocate, appearing on behalf of respondent No. 2 has vehemently argued that the petitioner was not eligible as per para 6 of Annexure R -2/1 -Scheme.